The College encourages individuals who have been subjected to sexual misconduct, including sexual violence, to talk to somebody about what happened - so they can get the support they need, and so the College can respond appropriately.

Different employees on campus have different abilities to maintain confidentiality with respect to these communications:

Some employees [mental health counselors, and Goucher's chaplain and rabbi] are required to maintain near complete confidentiality; talking to them is sometimes called a "privileged communication."

Other employees [health center staff and peer listeners] may talk to a victim in confidence, and generally only report to the College that an incident occurred, without revealing any personally identifying information. Disclosures to these employees will not trigger a College investigation into an incident against the victim's wishes.

All other employees at Goucher are required to report all the known details of an incident (including the identities of both the victim and the alleged perpetrator) to the Title IX coordinator. A report to these employees (called "responsible employees") constitutes a report to the College - and generally obligates the College to investigate the incident and take appropriate steps to address the situation.

This policy is intended to make community members aware of the various reporting and confidential disclosure options available to them - so they can make informed choices about where to turn should they become a victim of, or otherwise know about, sexual misconduct or violence. The College encourages reporters to talk to someone identified in one or more of these groups. For the purposes of this policy, the term "reporter" refers to victims of sexual misconduct, relationship violence or stalking, as well as other individuals who are not themselves victims but have knowledge of such misconduct that has been experienced by another individual.

This policy is also intended to make all college employees aware of their reporting obligations under Title IX and the Clery Act.